Exploring the past, 19,000 steps later.

June 26^th, 2026

McCarthy, Alaska

It rained again last night.  Just a light rain, but still got the tent and bike cover wet.  Thankfully they will stay up another day, so unless it rains again, should be dry by time I pack them tomorrow.

Woke up a few times at night to piss, and also from general discomfort.  My arms especially were just numb and tingling for a while till I fell asleep.  Think the constant vibration on the bike today just got to them.

Woke up feeling better though.  Was up by around 7:30, but then just sat in the tent and zoned out for a while.

Since there are no showers here, I will just wear the same clothes except shirt today.

Got up and decided what I wanted to do and repacked my backpack to carry stuff I needed and leave stuff I did not in the tent. (Hoping no one messes with tent during the day).

I walked back farther into the camp area to check out the Glacial Lake which forms at the end of the Kennecott Glacier.  Not sure if the very dirty mounds of what looked like dirt was just that, or dirty ice at the head of the glacier, but elevation was such that I could not see farther to see it, and the valley farther up was misted over and snow covered.

Walked out of the camp after stopping to drop off my SLR, battery is dead, completely forgot to check it before I left, and no way to charge it right now.

Went to the foot bridge, which would be a nice ride across, and saw another local on a bike using it. (Found out later that I could have ridden across and came into town on the bike instead of walking.  Oh well).

Saw some old rail road trestle remains near the next river crossing and an old cable crossing system as well.  Suspect that the road we rode in on is actually the original rail road route to the mine. (confirmed this later).

Walked the road into town and stopped at the small historical museum.  Mainly lots of left over junk from the mining days, and some personal effects of various people left behind in the area or found in attics, I am sure.  Lots of photos of the area over the years of the mine operations.

McCarthy was the town built to support the Kennecott and Bonanza mines (among others) and was founded around the same time as the mines in 1907.  The Railroad was built and went into operation by 1911 and rain till 1938.  I am guessing that was when the mines were no longer functioning and line was given to the state who turned it into the road we use today.

The rail route runs almost 200 miles from the mines to the port city of Cordova which was where the ore was shipped out to Washington for processing.  These mines were copper mines by the way.

I then walked down the “main” street of the town to see some of the old buildings and check out the restaurants to get some food.

I stopped at the general store and bought a few cans of soda for tonight and found out only one of the food spots was open this early, so went over to that one (The Potato) and ordered a breakfast type food. (A bowl of curly fries covered with sausage, gravy, eggs, and jalapenos.

Soon as I finish lunch then will catch the shuttle ($5) up to the mine and see what the tours cost.  Also, might check and see what some of the flights over the glaciers cost, and perhaps hit the other spot for dinner as they have live music usually as well.

Or I might just go back to camp and sit out in the air and read or daydream!

Walked over to the shuttle stop and stood around for several minutes.  I noticed one of the other shuttles coming, but not the one I was expecting to use.  Guy stopped and told me that for $15 I got an all-day pass on the shuttle, so this would get me to and from the mine and back to camp which is same cost the other guy would have been anyway, and the other runs a much looser schedule, so got in the van and rode back into town to the general store and bought my pass for the day.

Another older guy was on the shuttle that he must have found walking up from the camp as he too when in to buy a pass.

Once we were both done, and no other passengers were waiting, we got in and made the 20-minute drive up to the Kennecott.

Kennecott is the town and ore processing center that serviced several copper mines working in the higher elevations around this area.  There are huge mines inside the mountains above the town and the ore was shipped down via cable trolleys to the processing center where it was then gone through a massive 14 story structure to break down the ore and sort it into various grades.

That was then bagged and loaded onto the trains for transport down to the coast for shipment back to Washington for use.

They also had two other processes that pulled out every last drop of copper from the ore that would process the tailings from the main building.

Once we arrived, I spent some time looking at the signs and the views from the shuttle stop, then went inside the NPS office to see a few maps and such.

I then walked over to the tour operator and booked the tour of the processing mill as that is not open to the pubic without a tour, mostly for safety reasons and much of the building is in a state of decay.

The main mill, 14 stories top to bottom.

I had 90 minutes to burn before the tour, so walked around to all the other buildings open to the public.

Much of the surface town was sold off when the mine was closed down, some of it going to other mining operations, who failed and later sold it off.  Some of it ended up with a private organization to preserve the place, but many building are privately owned and used for businesses or lived in at least part of the time.

The National Park Service took over management of the area in 1998 in partnership with the private organization and the original mining company that still owned the underground assets.

I visited the old mercantile store, post office, meat storage locker and general manager office before returning to the tour office.

We then walked among most of the buildings I had just visited getting history of the town and then walked up the hill for a few other sites to reach the very top level of the main mill.

Once we entered, we toured one floor at a time going down various stairs and even ladders to the levels below.  Some of the spaces were nice still, others were a bit decayed and only walkable on the modern walkways added.  Lots of structural restoration work was seen, new load bearing beams or reinforcements to existing members.

The guide had a good grasp of the history of the processes on each floor and what occurred and the conditions under which the men worked (pretty brutal).

We reached the bottom level and then went across the road (old railroad line) and visited the leaching plant where they leached copper out of the rock using ammonia.  A building next door used oils and flotation to leach out from even the fine dust, but we could only look inside that one other than front room used for other exhibits.

Looked inside the main power plant, but could not go beyond the simple viewing platform.

I then returned to the main park office which is next to the shuttle stop to wait for the shuttle which was still 25 minutes away.

I took lots of photos and video during this, so hopefully will get a nice video out all the footage.

When the shuttle arrived, it was a full load, all seats full and even a few people standing in the rear area.

We arrived back to McCarthy where I got off to go have and early dinner, and then perhaps walk over to the cemetery, heard they did some nice work on the old places there.

Will then try to catch shuttle back to the bridge and walk back to the campsite and hope no one disturbed it.  

Probably catch and early night again.  Want to get up about 8 so I can be on the road by 10, should miss the early rush out at least that way.

Going to be a slow ride out, need to be very careful on fuel, should be good, but hard to say, and not 100% sure where I am going since I have no internet here, hard to plan.  But if I have the range, or can find fuel (the part I cannot research) I will head for Valdez.  I think it is about same distance as going back to Glenallen, so hoping that works out.

I did have dinner at the Saloon.  Big plate of nachos, though they were not really that good.  Had a coke as well, but the refills were messed up and then machine died, so did not even get some extra soda.

I then walked over the ½ mile to the old McCarthy cemetery.  Place was off the road in the forest about 200 feet, and was not too large, only about 2 dozen identified graves.  Mostly over grown with only some paths that people walking through have beat down in the grass/weeds.  A few stone markers, mostly wooden posts or crosses.  Most had no names, or the original names were worn off completely.

The NPS signs at the beginning indicated that most of the people in here were interned prior to the mine shutdown in 1938, and as early as 1910s.

The signs listed the names, country of origin, birthdate and death date when known and cause of death as well.  Quite a few unknown causes, lots of diseases or botched surgeries.  Several accidents, mainly burns.  Also, two murders and one suicide.

Some of the graves had updated plastic signs on them where they park service must have been able to read them, but many are just unmarked or the position was listed on a sign, but nothing is on the actual grave (though the layout that I walked through did not match the layout on the sign, so not sure what that was all about).

Did not stay too long as the mosquitos were out in force in there.

Walked back to town and down toward the general store and got lucky to find the shuttle there and getting ready to go down to the bridge near the campgrounds.

Rode back with them and then walked over bridge and about half way to camp I noticed my head was hot, and then realized I was not wearing my hat, and did not have it in hand.  Recalled that I had taken it off inside van to cool down some and it must have fallen off my lap and I did not notice it.

I walked back over the bridge to see if it had fallen out on the ground, but no such luck.

I am planning to return to town to see the band tonight at 9:00pm, so will inquire at the shuttle office and see if they found it.

I pulled out my camp chair, found my other hat, started my mosquito repelling machine and then sat in the chair and listened to the water and just let my thoughts roll, kind of a mental unplug.

That lasted roughly 90 minutes, then put stuff away and walked over the bridge, but no shuttles, so walked into town.  I did find the ¼ mile shortcut through the forest, complete with 2 stream crossings on narrow boards.

Went down to the general store they operate out of, but it was closed!

So hung out waiting for the shuttle, would ask a driver.

Another group was waiting as well.

After about 20 some minutes, and no shuttles, we saw one of the drivers walking down and asked him, he said the other driver was going, but then she was just up the road, so turns out they were in a 2-hour gap where no shuttles run after all the shops closed but before the bars close down later.

He offered to take the group since it was a large group with a child and they still had to drive 3 hours back home once to their car.

As he was loading them into the van I asked about my hat, he said we could go check the van parked nearby that I was riding in, but girl was actually washing it.  He asked her she said yes, it was found and was on table behind building.  I looked over and saw it.  Grabbed it and then grabbed a ride back to the bridge as well.

We pull up to the saloon and one of the patrons asked if we were going up to mine, but several others heard we were going to the bridge and hopped on as well.

Quick ride down, then walked back to the camp site.

I brought everything into the tent area and zipped up for the night, was tired.

Laid there for a while listening to the water.  Alarm is set for 8am tomorrow, hopefully no rain tonight.